Meta-analysis of the effect of low-level occupational benzene exposure on human peripheral blood leukocyte counts in China


Zhuojiong Chen , Hao Zhang , Hong Li , Zhijian Peng , Juan Cao , Jiemeng Bao , Lei Li , Xuezhong Wang , Yuanyuan Ji , Maofa Ge , Yujing Mu , Jianmin Chen , Min Shao , Zifa Wang

DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2021.08.035

Received May 28, 2021,Revised , Accepted August 11, 2021, Available online January 14, 2022

Volume 34,2022,Pages 204-210

To investigate the effect of low-level occupational benzene exposure on human peripheral blood leukocyte counts of the workers, domestic and foreign published research data on the change of human peripheral blood leukocyte counts under low-level occupational benzene exposure from January 1990 to December 2020 were collected and analyzed. According to the literature inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 independent studies from 12 publications were selected for meta-analysis to explore the effect of low-level occupational benzene exposure on human peripheral blood leukocyte counts. The results showed that the peripheral blood leukocyte counts abnormal rates of low-level occupational benzene exposure group were higher than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. Low-level occupational benzene exposure could result in a relatively higher abnormal rate of peripheral blood leukocyte counts in the exposed population, indicating that low-level occupational benzene exposure at workplaces specified by the current benzene occupational exposure limit in China would affect the peripheral blood leukocyte counts of the workers, thus benzene with concentrations under the limit in the ambient air of workplace could be still harmful to the health of the exposed workers. The results of this study could provide a scientific basis for future revision of the benzene occupational exposure limit in China, and could also be a reference for the formulation of environmental standard concerning benzene in China in the future.

Copyright © Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.京ICP备05002858号-3